There's that bold statement and much more in this piece put up by Judy Roberts over at the National Catholic Register:
In a media narrative that was largely predictable, news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was quickly
followed by a flood of headlines linking him to the clergy sexual-abuse scandal.
"Legacy Marred by Sex-Abuse Scandal," read a headline on the ABC News website. "Complicit in Child Sex-Abuse Scandals," said another from The Guardian, which quoted victims’ groups.
Amid the fray, however, other voices have taken a singularly opposite view, instead crediting the Holy Father with aggressively and decisively addressing a problem that came to light well before he was elected to the papacy.
...
One of Benedict’s most notable public acts in addressing clergy sexual abuse involved the case of Father Maciel shortly after he was elected Pope in 2005.
"He was the one who finally confronted the terrible, scandalous situation," Nussbaum said. "That was confronting a hugely powerful political force within the Church, where some others had looked away. He suspended Maciel from the priesthood, ordered him into seclusion and began a full investigation into the Legion of Christ."
Matthew Bunson, co-author of Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis, said an examination of the Holy Father’s record on the sexual-abuse issue reveals "a very clear trail of determination on his part to bring about reform and renewal."
"He realized it was not enough to close loopholes without a thorough spiritual reform and renewal in all corners of the Church that included seminary formation, parish life — the whole Church."
Bunson said the results of that reform are readily quantifiable. "If you look at diocesan audits of the U.S., new cases of abuse are in single digits every year now. We have millions of hours of safe programs, zero tolerance, protection in every form of diocesan and parish ministry and background checks. To a large degree, Benedict has presided over one of the great institutional transformations in modern history."
Added [L. Martin] Nussbaum: "While everybody wants [the number of new cases] to be zero, it means the Catholic Church is the safest place on the planet of any major institution for working with children."
Catholic University’s Father Beal said he thinks Benedict deserves more credit than he gets for bringing the critical nature of the sexual-abuse problem to the attention of Church authorities.
"In historical retrospect, he will look a lot better than he may on Feb. 28, when we are all good at looking back and saying what should have been done," Father Beal said. "Hindsight is always 20-20, and it’s not always that easy to say when you’re in the midst of it what needs to be done. He used his teaching authority both privately and publicly to turn the tide."
The whole thing should be read.
It's a narrative that goes quite counter to so much of the bilge put out by the press.
